βI thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto thy testimoniesβ (Psalm 119:5).
When we approach Scripture, may we be willing to let it automatically correct us!
In this age of computers, especially smartphones and other personal electronic devices, we have become more associated, for better or worse, with a feature called βautocorrect.β If you have typed a word or letter by mistake, special software automatically corrects your error. This is very handyβespecially if you are a poor speller. However, the downside is that the computer may misinterpret you. Perhaps you wish to spell someoneβs name, a location, or a specialized termβsomething probably not found in the average dictionary. Or, maybe you are quoting words that were originally misspelled. Perhaps you are using a foreign word. Whatever the case, the automatic βcorrectionβ is damaging rather than helpful. βAutocorrectβ would be incorrect!
Sadly, people, even professing Christians, function just like autocorrect software and βcorrectβ the Bible. They mean wellβhopefullyβbut they are better off not commenting about matters in which they are unskilled. They have an overestimation of their Bible understanding: they believe they are qualified to change Scripture at will. Just as the software would βthinkβ a unique word is misspelled, so people assume they can adjust Godβs words to make them fit human reasoning. This flawed approach to Scripture drives textual criticismβthe βscholarlyβ science of βreconstructingβ the Bible text that was supposedly βlostβ in the centuries since the Apostles. These βrestorationsβ are a series of critical works surviving even to this present hourβnamely, Greek New Testaments (about 30 different ones) and their resulting English translations (100-plus different ones)!
It is silly to point out, but it must be said. Computer software, since it is not living, cannot approach the Bible in faith. We, however, can and should use spiritual understanding to see why the King James Bible text says what it does, before we mindlessly change what it says. Whenever we alter the Bible, we cannot fathom the depths of ignorance in which we have just placed ourselves. Friends, we do not correct the Bible; it is perfect (Proverbs 30:5,6). Brethren, we let the Bible correct us; we are imperfect (2 Timothy 3:16,17). source
